The Promise
by PandorasCurse17
Summary: Week 32 Theme for IY fic contest: FaithfulUnfaithful. Summary: How important is it to keep a promise? Characters: Kouga, Rin, Sesshoumaru


**Week 32 Theme: Faithful or Unfaithful?**

By: Belledaynight

Rating: T  
Summary: How important is it to keep a promise?

Words: 810

**The promise**

She was doing it again.

Kouga watched from the shadows, just as he had always done since she first began to trespass into his territory. The first time he saw her, her hair was long and past her waist, her clothing was fancy and not like any that he had seen local peasants wearing. And there was something familiar about her dark eyes.

She was thinner now. Her hair was shorter. The length had been sold so that she could afford a proper burial for her father. Apparently he was a nobleman who was disgraced, sending him and his daughter into sudden poverty. To make matters worse, the man was severely ill.

Kouga had watched as the lady of social standing had been degraded to less than a peasant. She was walking through his woods and his wolves begged to be allowed to devour her, but he forbad them the action.

He made a promise long ago to another odd woman.

Of course, that woman was long gone now. She had vanished into another time where he could not follow no matter how fast he ran. But he had made her a promise that he would not allow the slaying of humans.

Except this woman was really proving a nuisance. She wandered closer and closer to the tribal dwellings. She had a bow over her shoulder and a quiver of arrows on her back. A dagger rested at her hip. She didn't have a strong protector like the other woman had. And she walked around barefoot.

She had become a lone hunter.

But Kouga recognized the look in her dark eyes and in the lips that no longer curved into smiles. It was the look of a social creature trapped into a life of solitude. He had felt that way too often himself to wish it upon another creature. But he stayed his wolves. They would not end her misery in such a fashion.

He must remain faithful to his promise to the woman from another time.

Kouga spoke sharply to his wolves, telling them to leave the area. His tail twitched in agitation as he saw the woman's sharp eyes look towards him, seeming to stare straight into his.

"I know it is you," she called into the depth of the forest. "You're never very far from me."

Kouga said nothing, but watched as she pulled her dagger from its sheath, the faintest of tremors seen within her grasp. He found himself grinning at her bravery. She looked nothing like the woman who had stolen his heart and yet he found himself endeared to her courage and will to survive.

It was then that the boar leapt out of the brush, catching them both by surprise. She gasped in pain as the tusks of the beast ripped into the flesh of her stomach. Kouga reacted quickly, but it wasn't fast enough.

He kicked the pig hard in the head, crushing its skull and killing it instantly. He ran to the young woman's side, his heart falling at the sight before him. She had looked in his direction with such hope but then that hope disappeared into dark confusion.

"But, you're not him," she whispered. Rin looked down at her abdomen, the wound was deep. There was only one person that could save her now. But he was gone. He had left her with an old nobleman nearly twelve years before. No word had been heard from him since then.

"No!" Kouga shouted as he gathered her in his arms and held her close to his chest. He could feel the moisture gathering in his eyes as the sound of her heartbeat began to diminish.

Rin reached up with weak fingers to trace Kouga's strong jaw line. "He promised he wouldn't let me get hurt." She closed her eyes and took a deep breath, trying to stand the pain.

"And I promised I wouldn't be responsible for the deaths of any more humans!"

Rin's eyes opened once more and she offered a sad smile for the wolf prince. "You have been faithful to your promise. Because I was already dead at the hands of your wolves." Her fingers contracted on his face, "You let them kill me once. You couldn't very well count me in that tally again if you wanted to."

**oooooOOOOOooooo**

Many miles towards the west a lone figure stood on the side of a mountain. His long silvery hair billowed in the wind behind him as he gazed towards the distance. The healing sword at his hip had pulsed.

There was a choice to be made.

If he left now, he would be able to keep faithful to the promise made to a little girl twelve years ago.

Or he could break one little promise and by doing so severe the humanity that had tainted his killing perfection.


End file.
